Oil atomizer



E. RODRGUES OIL ATOMIZER Filed Sept.' 144. 192.0 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 illMMIII l lll( IHHI A TTORNEY April 1 1924.

E. RQDRIGUES OIL ATOMIZER Filed Selm.

14, 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 HEURES W .s @am Patented Apr. l, 1924.

UNITED STATES ELOY RODRIGUES, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., KENT, or NEW YORK, N.Y.

AssIGNoR oF ONE-HALF To NATHANIEL OIL ATOMIZER.

Application filed September 14, 1920. Serial No. 410,182.

To all 'whom it may concern.:

Be it known that I, ELOY RoDRIGUEs, a citizen of the United States,residing in New York city, N. Y., have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Oil Atomizers, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact description.

My invention relates to oil atomizers; that is, to means for reducingcombustible oil'to a condition specially suitable for its thoroughcombustion, and for injecting' it, while in said condition, into theburner.

More particularly stated, my invention is especially adapted forhandling crude petroleum as well as lighter oils, the idea be ing toincrease the thoroughness of the com bustion and thus greatly increasingthe efficiency of the fuel.

In this connection, attention is invited to the fact that the heavy andcheap oils, including crude petroleum, are of higher grade, from thestandpoint lof fuel value, than the lighter oils, refined or otherwise.That is to say, the heavy and cheap oils are inherently capable ofgiving off more heat unit-s, per unit of volume for the oil7 than is thecase with the lighteroils.

While, therefore, my invention admits of general use upon oils rof manydifferent kinds, it is of especial value for use in connection withcrude petroleum; and while my invention may be successfully used inconnection with burners of various kinds, it is peculiarly adapted foruse upon burn ers employed in the furnaces of locomotives and steamvessels.

In the construction of my improved apparatus I have in mind quite anumber of distinct'objects, among which are the following:

I. To give the various parts such form as to give to the complete devicea maximum of eiiiciency in reducing the oil to linely divided particlesand in so injecting these particles into the burner as to cause the oilto be thoroughly consumed.

II. To render the various parts readily accessible, `for purposes ofinspection, repair, and replacement.

III. To so form the parts that they may be easily and cheaply reproducedin quantity, and may be standardized without difficulty in the fewinstances in which they can not be cut, stamped, or punched fromstandard stock, in such manner as to need no further standardizing.

IV. To provide improved mechanism for atomizing the oil and mixing itwith steam before it leaves the oil tank.

V. T0 provide lan improved superheater, and so locate the same that itheats the flowing mixture of steam and atomized oil before the streamleaves the oil tank.

VI. To provide an oil atomizer and parts associated therewith so thatthey act practically as an injector for forcing the oil into the burnerpipe.

VII. To provide an improved injector mechanism, for the purpose herecontemplated.

VIII. To make a number of specific improvements in the mechanism usedfor atomizing heavy oils, and particularly crude petroleum, and fordelivering the same in a form suitable for thorough combustion.

Reference is made t0 the accompanying drawings forming a part of thisspecifica'- tion, and in which like reference characters indicate likeparts' throughout the several figures.

Figure l is partly a side elevation and partly a central verticalsection, showing my device as applied to a locomotive oil tank and assuitable for use upon an oilburning locomotive.

Figure Q is a section on the line 2--2 of Figure l, looking in thedirection indicated by the arrows.

Figure 3 is a substantially central horizontal section 0n the line 3-3of Figure l,

looking in the direction indicated by the ar-y f nuts 9, 10, and fittedoil-tight. The pipe 8 leads to the burner, not shown, but is hereillustrated as broken away. The `pipe 8 is provided with a threadedportion 8a.

Mounted upon the threaded portion 8a of the pipe 8 is a cap l1, vservingas a cylinder head, and connected with this cylinder head 1 is acylinder 12, to which the cylinder head is secured by bolts 13. Thecylinder carries another cap 14, serving as a sieve, and for thispurpose provided with perforations 15 and held in position by bolts 15.An annulus 17, of hollow form, encircles and is carried by the threadedportion 8a of the burner pipe, and serves as a superheater, ashereinafter described.

Fitted upon the end of the threaded portion 8a of the burner pipe is acasting 18, constituting the trame of the oil atomizer, to be described.Integral with the casting 18 are two walls 19 and an end portion 194.Two other walls appear at 21, and have the form of two heavy or massiveplate-s, secured in position upon the walls 19 by means of bolts 23. Thecasting 18 is provided with a concavity 24 of substantiallyrusto-conical form, and which I designate as an atomizing chamber.

A nozzle appears at 25, and is provided with a contracted end portion27. This nozzle extends inwardly from the end portion 19a of theatomizer, and is so proportioned and arranged that the end portion 27eX- tends to a point only a short distance Yfrom the atoinizing chamber.The walls 19, the end portion 19Et and the walls 21 are provided withholes 20v. Such of the holes 20 as are in the walls 19, 21, are disposedoblique relatively to the length of the walls, and thus in a general wayextend toward the atomizing chamber.

The nozzle 25 is connected with the steam pipe 26, this pipe leadingalso to the superheater 11. Steam is admitted by means of a steam pipe2S, which extends through the wall of the tank and is secured oil-tightrelatively thereto by means oi nuts 28a, 281. The super-heater 17 isprovided with an inner wall 17u and with a compartment 17" of annularform. To facilitate connection with the pipes 26 and 28 the super-heateris further provided with nipples 17c and 17d.

The nozzle 25 is so arranged, and so proportioned relatively to theatomizing chamber that when steam under considerable pressure isadmitted through the nozzle and the burner pipe 8 is left open, a strongaspirating e'liect is produced within and adjacent to the atomizin(rchamber. This being the case, and oil zbeing present within theatomizer, this oil is gradually broken up into liquid particles oitmicroscopic lineness and thus carried with the steam passing out of theatomizer through the burner pipe 8. As the oil is thus graduallyatomized and removed along with the steam, vwhich fiows continuously,more oil enters the atomizer, flowing in through the holes 20. Theseholes are so proportioned that with the device in action and properlyadjusted, there is a tendency to maintain a partial vacuum within theatomizing chamber, and this nasale@ tendency causes the oil to flow inthrough the holes 2O at the same rate that the atomized oil is removedby the steam, which of course issues as a high velocity. Thus the actionof the device is automatic, and to a great extent self-regulating.

The superheater 17 heat-s the atomizer, and more particularly theportion thereof immediately adjacent .the burner pipe, and in so doingheats the contents of the atomizing chamber. Thus heat is appliedlocally to the burner pipe through which passes the mixture of steam andfinely divided liquid oil.

In Figure 5 is shown ragmentarily a form of my device differing from theone just described, in that the superheater, shown at 29, is somewhatwider than the one above described. Figure 4 shows a cross sectionthrough the superheater 29. The steam pipe tor admitting steam into thesuper heater appears at 31, and at 30 is the steam pipe for connectingthe superheater with the nozzle. A threaded sleeve 33 connects thesuperheater 29 with the atomizer, and the burner pipe 8, extends aslight distance into the superheater, and fitted thereto. Except as juststated, the structure and action of the mechanism shown in Figure isidentical with that above described with reference to the other iigures.

It will be noted that throughout my device the various parts may bereadily assembled or taken apart; that they can be easily inspected,repaired, or replaced; that they are of such form that they may be cut,stamped, or otherwise prepared from standard stoclr, and thus need butlittle standardizing; and that to the extent that they must be speciallycast or prepared otherwise than by the slight alteration of standardstock, they may be easily standardized. Y

By closingthe burner pipe 8 and admitting steam through the pipe 28 or31, as the case may be, the steam can be caused to issue through theholes 2O and 16. This renders it easy to free the sieve 14 of anysediment which may lodge against it during the time the device isnormally in action. 1t will be understood, of course, that while mydevice is in active use the oil is continuously passing in through theholes 1G, so that any lioating bodies carried by the oil are stopped bythe sieve and thus collected upon its surface.

The purpose of my invention is not to ialre an oil gas or an oil vapor,but is to rather thoroughly atomize the oil.

The operation of my device may be readily understood in the light of theforegoing description.

Since the cylinder 12 and parts contained therein are totally submergedin the body of crude oil contained within the oil tank, it follows thatwhen the device is idle the insegno atomizer is completely filled withliquid oil, and consequently contains no steam whatever. During thistime, the burner pipe is closed.

When, however, the burner pipe is opened and the steam is turned on, asabove described, the steam rushes out of the nozzle and into theatomizing chamber, driving before it the small volume of oil which forthe moment happens to be housed within the atomizing chamber. Thisvolume of oil is driven through the burner pipe, along with any oilalready in the burner pipe, and consumed by the action of the burner.This leaves the atomizing chamber filled with steam issuing at a highvelocity, and producing the aspirating action above described. To allpractical intents and purposes, the liquid oil within the atomizer actslike it is being worn away. The medium leaving the atomizer and passingout through the burner pipe is merely a mixture of finely-divided oilparticles and steam. The mixture being heated by the action of thesuperheater and just as it leaves the superheater, and being driven at ahigh velocity, there is no chance for the oil to collect in large dropswithin the burner pipe.

It is a fact well known in this art that live, dry steam, in a suitableproportion to the volume of oil to be consumed, is beneicial in aidingthe combustion of the oil.

It is a fact not generally known in this art that heavy oils, and amongthem crude petroleum, become quite limpid when subjected to the actionof hot and dry steam. The heat of the steam, and its aqueous vapor,appear to act collectively in causing the oil to become separated intomicroscopic drops. The abrasive action of the steam as it acts upon theoil appears to reduce the oil to small particles, and the surfacetension of these particles causes them, in the presence of the steam, tobecome spherical and to become uniformly diffused throughout the steamas it issues, and thus to retain their microscopic form. The mixturethus prepared is ready for the burner.

I do not limit myself to the precise mechanism described, as variationsmay be made therein without departing from my invention, the scope ofwhich is commensurate with my claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is as follows:

l. A device of the character described, comprising an oil tank forholding a body of oil, a cylinder located within said tank and normallysubmerged within said body of oil, said cylinder being provided with anatomizing1 chamber and with means for admitting t ereinto a portion ofsaid body of oil, a burner pipe connected with said cylinder andcommunicating directly with the atomizing chamber thereof, and asuperheater connected with said burner pipe.

2. A device of the character described,

Acomprising a tank for holding a body of oil in the form of a liquid, asteam-operated oil atomizer located within said tank and normallysubmerged within said body of oil, said atomizer being provided with anatomizing chamber communicating with said body of oil and normallysubmerged therein, means for admitting steam into said atomizingchamber, a burner pipe connected with said atomizer and leading fromsaid tank, and a super-heater connected with said burner pipe andlocated within said tank.

3. A device of the character described, comprising an oil tank forholding a volume ofoil, a cylinder mounted within said oil tank andnormally submerged within said volume of oil, said cylinder beingprovided with a sieve for screening the oil as it Hows into saidcylinder, an oil atomizer 4located within said cylinder and adapted tobe operated by steam, means for admitting steam into said atomizer forthe purpose of atomizing the oil, and heating mechanism located withinsaid cylinder.

4. In an oil atomizer the combination of a hollow member provided withan atomizing chamber and with means for admitting into said atomizingchamber the oil to be atomized, a burner pipe communicating with saidatomizing chamber for delivering therefrom a mixture of steam andatomized oil, a nozzle connected with said hollow member, and extendinginto proximity to said atomizing chamber, a pipe for supplying steam tosaid nozzle in order to cause the steam to act upon oil within theatomizing chamber and thus atomize said oil, and means for superheatingsaid atomizing chamber and the portion of the burner pipe immediatelyadjacent thereto.

5. In a device of the vcharacter described the combination of means forholding a volume of oil, a box-like member to be submerged within saidvolume of oil, said boxlike member being` provided with means foradmitting oil and further provided with an atomizing chamber, means fordischarging steam into said atomizing chamber in order to atomize theoil therein, a burner pipe connected with said box-like member andcommunicating with said atomizing chamber for the purpose of conveyingtherefrom a mixture of steam and atomized oil, a hollow annulusencircling said burner pipe, and means for admitting steaminto saidhollow annulus for the purpose of heating said burner pipe. c

ELOY RODRIGUES.

